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• assembly
  assembly

  noun

  an assembling or coming together of a number of persons, usually for a particular purpose.
• Assembly
  Assembly

  noun

  the lower chamber in various American state legislatures See also House of Assembly legislative assembly National Assembly

assembly

American  

[uh-sem-blee] / əˈsɛm bli /

noun

• assemblies
  plural

1. an assembling or coming together of a number of persons, usually for a particular purpose.

   The principal will speak to all the students at Friday's assembly.

   Synonyms:

   meeting, congress, gathering, assemblage

2. a group of persons gathered together, usually for a particular purpose, whether religious, political, educational, or social.

   Synonyms:

   throng, meeting, congress, gathering, assemblage

3. (often initial capital letter) a legislative body, especially the lower house of the legislature in certain states of the U.S..

   a bill before the assembly; the New York State Assembly.

   Synonyms:

   congress

4. Military.

   1. a signal, as by drum or bugle, for troops to fall into ranks or otherwise assemble.

   2. the movement of forces, tanks, soldiers, etc., scattered by battle or battle drill, toward and into a small area.

5. the putting together of complex machinery, as airplanes, from interchangeable parts of standard dimensions.

6. Machinery. a group of machine parts, especially one forming a self-contained, independently mounted unit.

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assembly ¹ British  

/ əˈsɛmblɪ /

noun

1. a number of people gathered together, esp for a formal meeting held at regular intervals

2. the act of assembling or the state of being assembled

3. the process of putting together a number of parts to make a machine or other product

4. machinery a group of mating components before or after fitting together

5. military

   1. a signal for personnel to assemble, as by drum, bugle, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      an assembly area

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Assembly ² British  

/ əˈsɛmblɪ /

noun

1. the lower chamber in various American state legislatures See also House of Assembly legislative assembly National Assembly

2. short for General Assembly

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Usage

What does assembly mean? An assembly is a gathering of people, usually for some specific reason, as in The preacher gave a sermon before the assembly. Assembly is used to refer to a group of people who have gathered together. Usually, the people have a reason to come together such as for religious, political, or social purposes. Assembly can also refer to the gathering or coming together of people, as in The principal organized an assembly of all of the parents. Assembly can also refer to a legislative body in which politicians gather to perform the political process. In this case, assembly is often capitalized when it’s a part of the name of the body, as in The bill was discussed by the California State Assembly. Lastly, assembly can refer to the act of putting something together or fitting parts together, as in Jorge helped his granddaughter with the assembly of the model airplane. Assembly comes from the verb assemble, which usually means to gather things or people together, as in The players assembled into a group huddle. Example: The police chief spoke to an assembly of citizens concerned about theft in the neighborhood.

Synonym Usage

See convention.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preassembly
  noun
• reassembly
  noun
• self-assembly
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• assemblies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of assembly

1275–1325; Middle English assemblee < Middle French, literally, (that which is) assembled, feminine past participle of assembler to assemble

Explanation

Use the noun assembly to refer group of people meeting up for a mutual purpose, such as a church service. Often used to describing a gathering of people, the word assembly can also refer to putting something together, such as a machine or a piece of furniture. No matter if the individual components are people or objects, assembly implies a bringing together. You may be familiar with the term "freedom of assembly," which is considered a basic human right. It means that people are free to peacefully gather together to protest the government, to worship, to hold a public meeting . . . or even to play poker. This allows people to exchange information and pursue mutual goals.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

assembly Assembly assemblies

Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, meanwhile, was on a tight deadline to push the 2024 budget through the assembly by the end of the year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

O'Neill was speaking on Monday in response to an urgent question on the Drumcree dispute tabled by DUP assembly member Phillip Brett.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

It connected the molecular assembly to the cell's internal skeleton, allowing force to be transmitted across the surface of the material being engulfed.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 5, 2026

Shortly after Thursday's student assembly at Cornell, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she had appointed the state attorney general, Letitia James, as special prosecutor in the case.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

These undercover judges will decide who wins the Excelsior, which will be awarded at another all-school assembly on March fifteenth.

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein

“Iceland’s contribution is being a base, our actual country. Literally,” Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir told The Wall Street Journal in an interview last month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Iranian and US officials last week held indirect talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with Tehran saying it presented seven conditions for reopening the strait.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Reporters from The Assembly and ProPublica scanned a state of North Carolina website that details how to file a notice of intent to open a private school.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

Under Assembly Bill 645, 125 cameras will be placed in 15 council districts in high-injury areas, school zones and street racing hot-spots.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

“The Assembly has voted that there should be no unclaimed land left in all Hartford County.”

From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare

The study, published in Nature, examined 103 bat genomes, including 42 newly generated chromosome-level assemblies, covering all 21 recognized bat families.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

Reactor 2 was taken offline on August 4 for refuelling, during which 20 of the 121 fuel assemblies in the reactor core were replaced.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

A compelling model comes from the burgeoning global movement of citizens’ assemblies — deliberative bodies in which a randomly selected, representative cross-section of the public is convened to consider complex policy questions.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

Perhaps the most impressive discoveries are animal “cities,” including two assemblies of octopuses, dubbed Octopolis and Octlantis, found off the east coast of Australia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

The teachers herded us into a narrow, sandy courtyard where, I heard a veteran schoolgoer say, morning assemblies were held. announced the principal in a loud, excited voice.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane